Portrait

**ErickZelaya** · June 2nd, 2008, 04:30 PM

Hey there everyone, just finished this portrait, looking for any advice.

here is my reference

**Adrian Wilkins** · June 2nd, 2008, 04:43 PM

wow.. all i have to say
Ehm,.. the propotions concidering the photos is near to 100% similiar 0o
and the colors also

**Adrian Wilkins** · June 2nd, 2008, 04:53 PM

now okay... either your a copy machine and have an insanly good observation or your trying to trick us... i pulled it into photoshop and it's really 100procent similiar to the reference and the color is exactly the same... i mean first post ever made in the forum and !BAM! - perfect! somehow strange

if I'm wrong i apologize

**ErickZelaya** · June 2nd, 2008, 05:23 PM

i really dont know how to reply to this but i can post some older saves of it, and i could go as far as to send you the actual PSD, i do have the image layered in the file, it sits way up top, i paint a bit and ten i'll go back to the picture, its completely from reference and its not perfect at all, but yeah i dont really know what to say? im not trying to cheat here, ive been doing art for a while, im pretty good at photo realistic. its just my first post on this site, ive been doin this for a while, maybe that has something to do with it? really im not trying to trick anyone.

**JTate** · June 2nd, 2008, 05:38 PM

umm yeaa, I know Erick personally and actually watched him paint this firsthand over a period of time. He has really thorough basis in painting and drawing traditionally, and after getting used to photoshop that knowledge began to show. Everyone who posts on this forum doesnt have to be complete novice when they first post here.

good job erick.

**SAGIR** · June 2nd, 2008, 07:14 PM

WOW! Took me a while to realize which one is the reference.

The only thing I have is that it's a shame that the background is so dull.

Amazing work!

**zaccrockett** · June 2nd, 2008, 07:19 PM

The texture of the face is amazingly realistic, but I feel the reflection of the light on the hair could be brought out a bit more.

**ErickZelaya** · June 2nd, 2008, 10:00 PM

yeah i need those crisp highlights, is there anyway you guys know of that would be easy?

and yeah the bg is non existent for now

**ErickZelaya** · June 3rd, 2008, 02:51 PM

can anyone recommend brush settings for thin hairs, ive tried a 1px brush and it looks ok but it looks very deliberate, any tips would come i handy

**ErickZelaya** · June 4th, 2008, 06:20 PM

another update on the painting, still need to work on the hairs.

**Zehna** · June 4th, 2008, 07:44 PM

Erriiicckkk!

Glad you joined us!

I also took the liberty of watching Erick actually draw and color this. So I know it wasn't copied. He's pretty amazing with humans.

Hmm. I've tried to help with the hair but it's -really- hard to explain, and I'm not the best at it by any stretch of the imagination. I would definitely say experiement with a hair brush. Meaning... a few dots that are slightly larger and smaller than each other, then using shape and other dynamics on it. I can show you at school on Thursday if what I'm saying doesn't make sense. (We all know I'm horrible with that.)

For the background on the update... I don't know. I understand that this is a portrait, but I honestly feel as if you are following the picture too closely. I think, as you preach so much, you should take some 'artistic liberty'. I feel as if the background is way too crisp and prominent and takes away from her. I also feel as if the shirt was kind of overlooked, unless it's not finished yet...? Though the shirt in the reference is kind of slate-bluish-white, maybe it would do the whole picture some justice to warm everything up a bit? Maybe some colored light?

I know you're going for realism and practice, but... I just think a bit more artistic liberty could be taken for things to pop a bit more. But maybe that's more subjective than objective.

**ErickZelaya** · June 4th, 2008, 08:04 PM

i can see what you mean, not sure how i would fix that, this was just kind of a study for me to try painting in PS, you know i havent had that much experience in it. The shirt is not finished, i am just very tried of working on this lol. and yeah i duno i just kind of painted in the background nice and quick, maybe i could blur it or something?

**Zehna** · June 4th, 2008, 08:07 PM

Yes yes, maybe some Gaussian blur? But just a little. Anywhere from .5 to 1.5 or 2 should do the trick. Wouldn't say more than that though. And yes, I know! I mean damn. xD You've just started and you're already better than me. Though, you and I draw different things and our styles are very different, so. o.o

Keep goin'!

**luverly_marie** · June 4th, 2008, 08:08 PM

You had to have worked from the image, I don't get how you can simply "reference" and get an exact image. You borrowed from somewhere. I only see one thing that isn't consistent with the image, but it's nothing major.

The hair needs more brilliance. She has really nice shiny hair that shows its color when light shines on it. You should start thinking of the hair for the bottom half, as mass not so much strands. You can avoid doing the strand by strand technique, if you color by the gradients. Then add a few strands to get the gist of it, it'll capture the hair much better. Right now it has no form, no mass.

The flesh seems to look grafted on the shirt lol. You should try to define the shirt a little better. Seems like you worked on all but the face.

**ErickZelaya** · June 4th, 2008, 08:11 PM

well i asked my girl friend to take a simple picture for me, this is just a study on trying painting out in PS i havent been doing it for all that long as i said, of course i worked from the image, really am no focused on the drawing, i just wanted to get use to painting on here.

**ErickZelaya** · June 4th, 2008, 08:14 PM

and i really dont get what you're saying about the refrence thing, are you saying that i cloned stamed parts from the picture?

**luverly_marie** · June 4th, 2008, 08:18 PM

I thought you said you were referencing the photo, but not copying from it. I believe that you painted this yourself lol.

Oh ok. It's just, it's about the entire image really. Not so much the face or parts of the background. You fall short on stuff like the hair and the shirt. I mean if you can blend all those colors and get that face, you have skill. I think you'll have a more well rounded piece if you worked on everything 100% as much as the face.

Honestly, I would have referenced it and did my own portrait from scratch :/

**ErickZelaya** · June 4th, 2008, 08:21 PM

its not finished man lol

**ErickZelaya** · June 4th, 2008, 08:27 PM

and im still confused as to what you're saying about reference, seems like what you're is that you would have liked to seen me do this in a different style, in a way you like.

**luverly_marie** · June 4th, 2008, 08:28 PM

Never mind, I don't want to confuse you more lol. Just keep on going

**ErickZelaya** · June 4th, 2008, 08:32 PM

its just a study, im trying to learn PS, i know its not good to work exactly from reference, but i didnt want to jump into a more complex painting without knowing how to work the tools properly

**Zehna** · June 4th, 2008, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by luverly_marie

I would have referenced it and did my own portrait from scratch.

I think what she's saying, if I might try to interpret, is not that you should do or color it in a different way, but that you're following the portrait REALLY strictly, like where the stray hairs are and how the hair falls, etc, instead of just kind of roughly referencing the pose, clothing and atmosphere and taking it from there.

--- Edit ---

Yeah, that, lol. >.>